


Almost Perfect Plan

by SarkaS



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Derek Comes Back, Derek Saves Stiles, Gen, Hurt Stiles, M/M, stereksecretsanta13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-06 10:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarkaS/pseuds/SarkaS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles tripped and face planted in the dirt.<br/>Fuck. His. Life!<br/>He’ll never make it. Not now. They were already here. And the worst part? They are going to eat him alive, because that’s what they do. Just start dig in, no bothering with killing prey first.<br/>Fuck his life thousand times!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Almost Perfect Plan

**Author's Note:**

> My Christmas (but really not-so-much-christmasy) gift for in-a-robot-suit in SterekSecretSanta13. Maybe someone will enjoy it.  
> EDIT: beta-read by uppacrick

He’s going to die.

Yeah, he’s pretty sure of it. He‘s going to die right this moment and there isn’t shit he can do about it. Maybe if he had told Scott or Isaac that he was going out with this marvelous plan for killing those ghouls for good…

It was a good plan. A perfect plan.

Just one tiny little problem… The fucking lighter, which is not in his pocket where it should be. That one thing Stiles wasn’t supposed to forget is still at home on his bed.

Yeah, that would be awesome… Not forgetting.

But hey, here he was, in the middle of fucking Preserve with a gas can  in one hand and a dead cell phone in other. And now there are ghouls. Nasty disgusting half-rotten, pale-skinned creatures with pointy teeth and murderous morning breath 24/7, just twenty feet from him.

So he ran. It was not his bravest moment, but it was definitely one of his smartest. Ghouls aren’t good runners, but on the other hand neither is he.

Stiles can hear their wheezy breathing behind him. Dead leaves shuffle around their feet, and he hears hungry noises.  He just knows they want his flesh between their teeth and in their stomachs.

He can feel sweat on his back, T-shirt clinging to his skin, and even more sweat on his face. His breathing is becoming louder and faster. And they are still behind him. There is also that important detail that he’ll get tired eventually. They will not.

When he saw a glimpse of the burnt shell of a house, it surprised him. Stiles had no idea that he was in this part of Preserve already. But hey, it’s not like he has map of Preserve burned in his brain.

Maybe there is something he can use to defend himself. Maybe even something Derek abandoned when he left town. That blowtorch maybe? That would be awesome, because—

Stiles tripped and face-planted in the dirt.

Fuck. His. Life!

He’ll never make it. Not now. They are already here. And the worst part? They are going to eat him alive, because that’s what they do. Just dig in, not bothering to kill their prey first.

Fuck his life a thousand times!

Stiles turned to face them and grabbed the first thing he could – the branch that made him fall on his face. There were four of them — all long limbs and skinny bodies like twisted supermodels, black holes where their eyes are supposed to be.  And the smell… God, that smell!

“You need a bath in fucking bleach,” Stiles murmured as he scrambled to get back on his feet. But it’s too late; they are already attacking. Just jumping on him like animals. He hit one with nice baseball swing and the ghoul fell backward taking one of his mates with him. But that was just one, the other two are sinking their claw into Stiles’ body.

And yes, he screamed.

The pain is horrible! Like really, he couldn’t have imagined this kind of pain. Their claws weren’t sharp, no, more like shattered blunt nails, but they still manage to stab them into his flesh. He’s trying to fight, but there are too many places to defend and he has only two hands.

There are teeth in front of his face — eight of them, all brown, dark, broken and pointy. Between two teeth, Stiles can see a piece of light purple cloth and his guts turn to stone.

Suddenly, he hears loud growling. His rabbiting heart misses a beat, because it sounds so familiar. Safe, though. How messed up is his life when in his brain growling is synonymous with safety? Answer: A lot!

This is not the end he had imagined for himself. He knew that there was the probability of a painful and violent end, but he’d thought more likely some rogue werewolf. Like, you know, one slash with claws and he would drop dead or something. Not this.  Not being slowly eaten by ghouls with bad hygiene.

His dad will be so disappointed.

—-

A sharp sting of pain wakes him up. He cries out and tries to move away from it.

“Stop moving, idiot!” someone barked. Stiles’ confused mind circled around those words, because —what? Another shot of pain hit his right thigh. A loud whimper left his lips without even saying goodbye. “It’s almost done. Just a few more,” the deep voice growled with annoyance. Unfortunately, staying still was not fucking possible!

But hey, he was still alive, right? And this probably wasn’t ghouls eating him. The pain was different. So… maybe… “Derek?” he tried with eyes still shut.

A quiet growl of agreement was more than enough. Holy shit! Stiles finally opened his eyes.

His view was a little blurred but he couldn’t be mistaken. That face? That was definitely Derek Hale in all his majestic broodiness.

“What the hell, man?” Stiles rasped. There was a different smell, a burning smell… and he tried to sit up again.  A big strong arm pushed him back down.

“Don’t move! I need to cauterize these wounds. You don’t want to leave it like that.”

Stiles lifted his head just a little to see what the hell was going on, but he regretted it immediately. There were a lot of wounds on his body. And a lot of blood. Aaaand there was a blowtorch. Right. This was definitely the right moment for fainting; so why doesn’t he?

Derek lit that thing up again.

Fainting. Now! Like, right now! Come on!!!

For the record, he’s not ashamed that he cried and screamed, okay? Not even a little bit. He’s actually proud, because he managed to not piss himself.

“Was that some way of showing how you’ve missed me or something? Because, dude, that was a little overkill,” Stiles managed after half an hour, his voice hoarse and quiet.

“Where is Scott? Or Isaac? Or anybody?” Derek looked pissed. He was cleaning blood from his hands with a towel.

Stiles looked around. Oh, they were in loft.  Wait, that doesn’t make sense at all.

“How did we get here?” Stiles asked, confused.  He was still laying down, because his whole body fucking hurt.

“Stiles! Where is everyone!” Derek growled his not-exactly-a-question.

“Home. Probably.”

Silence…Yeah, he remembers this type of silence. It’s not a pleasant silence. Finally…

“Home.”

“Yeah.”

“You came out here alone.” Definitely not a question.

“Dude, I totally had a genius plan!” Stiles was offended. It’s not like he had a death wish or something. It was honest mistake. Anyone could forget a damn lighter!

“I see. You were trying to give them food poisoning?”

Stiles glared. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Sourwolf tries to make jokes, I see. Needs work, though.”

Derek scowled. “No. I’m not joking. You could have died, Stiles! What were you thinking?!”

“That someone needs to do something! They ate a kid two days ago, Derek. Girl. She was five years old and got lost in the Preserve. They. Ate. Her.”

This silence was filled with horror of that image he had just painted in Derek’s mind.

“Someone needed to do something and tonight is full moon. I couldn’t just call Scott or Isaac. They’ve both been having a rough time.” They all have. After Nemeton…no Alpha to hold things together. Yeah, not easy for anyone. Not just Scott, Allison and him.

Derek’s eyebrows were furrowed, but he didn't say anything, just walked out of the room. He came back after a few minutes with another wet towel and knelt next to the couch.  He began cleaning Stiles’ aching body.

“There will be scars.”

Stiles snorted. “Like there weren’t any before.” His body looked like an old mannequin belonging to really bad tailor. Stiles had scars everywhere. “It’s been a long time, though.”

Derek carefully wiped off some blood, but his eyes traveled from scar to scar, probably trying to guess what caused them.

“So… Are we going to talk about your sudden presence?”

“I’ve come back,” Derek said after long while. It sounded strangely uncertain.

“I’ve noticed.” Stiles nodded shortly. “What about why?”

—-

He gets his answer eventually, but it takes some time. Hours, actually. Derek helped him with his injuries in silence. Even took some of his pain away, which was such a relief that Stiles fell asleep for a while.

When he woke, Derek was still there, sitting next to him, watching him with a thoughtful expression.

“So?” Stiles croaked with a sleepy voice. He knew Derek knows what he wants to know.

“I wanted to?” That actually sounded very much like a question. Stiles shot him a surprised look.

“Just like that?” Stiles couldn’t help himself. He sounded suspicious, because he was suspicious. Derek was gone more than year. This sudden return? Way too strange.

“Cora got married.”

Ooookay.  That was not what Stiles expected.

“Isn’t she a little young?” Stiles asked, uncertain how to react.

Derek smirked. “I would pay to see you say that to her face.”

“Point taken,” Stiles murmured and sat up carefully. Holy shit! How can a body even hurt that much?! “Why so sudden?”

“It wasn’t.”

Stiles waited, but it seemed that Derek wasn’t planning to say anything else. “So, why are you here and not with her?”

Derek shrugged. “She doesn’t need me anymore. I was the spare.”

“Yeah,” Stiles breathed out, “that’s bullshit.” Derek looked at him with rising eyebrows. “You’re her only brother, dude. You will never be a spare.”

“She has her pack and Damien. She doesn’t need a brother with…issues.”

“If you say so.” Stiles wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t want start a fight over it. “I’m just glad you showed up in time. Earlier would probably have been better, but hey, I’m still alive and in one piece. Well, more or less.” There were few pieces missing, though. That piece of flesh ripped from his left hip will probably never grow back, but otherwise? Peachy.

Derek grunted and shot him a dirty look.

Stiles held his hands up in the I-surrender gesture. “I know. My plan definitely didn’t work like I thought it would, but in my defense, if I hadn’t forgotten that lighter at home, it would have been really genius.”

“Sure,” Derek snorted. And in that Stiles saw something familiar. It made him smile.

“Asswolf.”

“I’m not going to bother saving that sorry ass of yours next time,” the werewolf said with an annoyed tone.

“You would miss me,” Stiles teased, standing up. He managed only four careful and slow steps before his body gave up. Derek caught him before he hit the floor.

“You should go to the hospital. I could call Scott-“

“Told ya, not gonna happen. He needs this full moon off. And I don’t need a hospital. It’s not my first rodeo since you’ve been gone. Just need to swallow some painkillers and I’ll be good as new.”

Derek scowled, but didn’t say anything.  He just put Stiles back on the old smelly couch and sat on the dusty coffee table next to it.

“You’re not supposed to fight these things, Stiles. Definitely, not alone.”

“I’m not alone!”

Derek’s eyes sent a clear message; he didn’t believe that.

“Fine, I was tonight, but I’m not alone in general. There is Scott, Isaac and Lydia. Also Allison and Chris help a lot. Dad and Melissa try. We are misfits, but we are a better pack of misfits than you think, Derek.” And this wasn’t supposed to sound like a complaint. Damn it!

“I know.” The former Alpha sounded sincere. That was a shocker. In a way.

“You know?”

“Yeah.” Derek’s smile was small, almost unnoticeable, but definitely there.

Stiles’ heart immediately melted in warm feelings caused by that smile. “So you also know that you are part of it, right? You always were.”

“We never were a real pack, Stiles.”

The teen snorted. “Semantics. We definitely were in every way that is important. We still are.”

The room fell into silence. Derek’s left hand was laying on Stiles’ belly, veins black, sucking part of the pain away.

“You’re staying, right?” Stiles asked after a while, uncertain, but determined.

Derek watched him with his human hazel eyes for a long time, before he jerked his head. “It’ll be Christmas soon.”

Stiles smiled. “This place could use some Christmas cheer, though.”

Derek’s smile wasn’t that broad, but it was an actual smile. “Yeah.”

 


End file.
